Article of manufacture and process for making the same



Oct. 31, 1944. H. P. STARNER ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE AND PROCESS FOR MAKING THE SAME Filed Feb. 5, 1941 INVENTOR #52554 7" P. 5702M? BY 0M ATTORNEY Patented on, 31, 1944 ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE AND PROCESS FORMAKINGTHE SAME- Herbert Palmer Starner, Scarsdale, N. Y.

Application February 5, 1941, Serial No. 377,478

6 Claims.

This invention relates in general to articles useful in providing colored flame eilects to open fires, and to a process for making the same. In particular, the invention relates to a process for producing an article comprising a natural flammable cellulosic material adapted to be burned in a fireplace, and which is decorative and ornamental in appearance. The invention also includes correlated improvements designed to enhance the structure, appearance and utility of such articles.

It has been found desirable to provide a novel, decorative article of manufacture comprising a natural flammable cellulosic material combined with a wax-like binding agent, a flame-coloring composition, and various other compositions in order to provide means in combination with the article for distributing quantities of said flamecoloring composition to remote sections of a burning fire.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide aprocess for forming an article adapted to produce enhanced multi-colored visual effects in an open fire upon burning.

It is another object of the invention to provide an article capable of producing unusual pyro-t'echnical effects upon burning, having combined therewith means for distributing quantities of flame-coloring compositions to remote localities of a burning fire.

It is a still further object 01' the invention to provide as an article of manufacture, a rustic and attractive flame-coloring novelty.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

According to the present invention there is provided a natural flammable cellulosic material combined with a solidified wax-like binding agent and a flame-coloring composition, said wax-like binding agent being adapted to melt and carry particles of the flame-coloring agent to various parts of a fire, the article itself adapted to be slowly burned to produce colored flame effects. The article of the invention may be formed by combining a natural cellulosic material with a wax-like binding agent and a flamecoloring composition, and in accordance with methods to be hereinafter more fully described in detail, the natural cellulosic material being first preferably combined with flame-retarding agents, odor-producing agents, and/r decorative and effect materials.

The invention accordingly comprises a product possessing the characteristics, elements and the relation of elements and a process comprising the steps and relation of steps, all as exemplified and set forth in the drawing and the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and object of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the article of'the invention:

Fig. 2 is a detailed perspective view of another embodiment of the invention having a portion broken away to show detail;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the invention showing a portion thereof in detail; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a further em bodiment of the invention.

Accordingly, the article of the invention comprises essentially three separate and distinct elements, namely the natural flammable cellulosic material, the solidified wax-like binding agent, and the flame-coloring composition.

The natural flammable cellulosic materials which may be used to form the article of the invention comprise such materials as the natural product of the forests, as for example, the seedbearing cones of the conifers, dried wood, bark, acorns, logs and other natural cellulosic materials and which are more fully described and set forth in my U. S. patent application Serial No. 307,587 filed'December 5, 1939, entitled "Article of manufacture and process for making the same. In the preferred embodiment of the invention there is used as the natural flammable cellulose material a natural dried pine-cone, and/or a natural dried log.

By the term flame-coloring compositions, it is meant to include any composition or chemical which when exposed to or placed in an open fire or flame will impart to the flame a color different and apart from the natural colorof the flame or which will provide an intensification of the natural color of the flame.

Flame-coloring compositions which may be employed comprise such substances, chemicals and other compositions which form a display of color upon coming into contact with a flame. Suitable flame-coloring compositions comprise a wide variety of metallic salts, such as for example, the salts of copper, nickel, arsenic, manganese and thelike, which will produce a variety of bluish colors upon being vaporized in the heat of an open flame. Specific examples of such salts facture of .the article.

include copper chloride, nickel sulphate, and potassium permanganate.

Greenish colors may be produced in the flame of an open fire by using compounds comprising salts of barium, antimony, zinc and the like, such as barium sulphate, zinc chloride, and antimony chloride. Boric acid and phosphoric acid may also be employed and used to produce a greenish coloration to a flame.

Yellowish colors may be produced in a flame by using compounds comprising salts of cadmium, sodium, calcium and the like, as for example, cadmium sulphate, sodium chloride, and calcium chloride.

Bluish reds and reds may be produced in a flame by the use of strontium and lithium compounds.

The various colors may be used alone or in combination with other colors to provide enhanced effects. By the term wax-like binding agent, it is meant to include any agent or composition which is capable of forming a solidified mass at ordinary temperatures, and which is capable of forminga melt and flowing when subjected to elevated temperatures.

Suitable wax or wax-like agents which may be used and combined with flame-coloring agents and natural flammable cellulosic materials comprise natural and synthetic compositions, such as the animal, vegetable and mineral waxes, as for example, paraffin wax, carnauba wax, beeswax, and the like. Other wax-like binding agents comprise the natural and synthetic gums.

waxes and resins capable of existing in the solid phase as well as the liquid flowable phase. The waxes or wax-like binding agents may be visually colored with inks, dyes, pigments and/or effect materials, or they may be employed in their natural forms.

Flame-coloring compositions may be combined with the wax or wax-like binding agent, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, by heating the wax in a suitable container to an elevated temperature, causing the wax to melt,

nium sulphate is used as the combustion-retarding agent. The ammonium sulphate maybe dissolved in suitable solvent, such as water, to form a concentrated solution. The article may then be impregnated, sprayed, dipped, or otherwise combined with the ammonium sulphate and then dried to evaporate the solvent. Alternatively, the combustion-retarding agent may be mixed with a lacquer or other suitable tacky material and sprayed over the article '01 the invention, thus forming a superficial coating.

Aroma-producing agents may be combined with the article of the invention as by way of impregnating such articles before, during or after formation. In the preferred embodiment the article of the invention is combined with various natural and/or artificial scents, odors, aromatics, essential oils, and the like, such as musk, pine oil, laurel, sandalwood, spruce, bayberry, balsam, fir, hemlock, and the like. It has been discovered that the aroma-producing agents retain their odors for a much longerv period of time when such aroma-producing agents are used in combination with a fire-re tarding agent of the class described, and combined with the article in manner set forth above.

- The exact manner in which the fire-retarding while slowly adding the flame-coloring composition in powdered or granular form. As a spec fic example, a flame-coloring composition comprising a mixture of powdered strontium chloride and copper sulphate is slowly added to a vessel'containing a quantity of melted paraflln. Preferably, suflicient quantity of flame-coloring composition is added in order to produce a saturated dispersion of the flame-coloring composition with the wax. The wax is then allowed to cool and solidify, thus binding the flame-coloring composition throughout the hardened wax. It should be noted that the dispersion comprising the wax-binding agent and the flame-coloring composition should be of such consistency as to be capable of being combined with the natural flammable cellulosic material to form the various embodiments of the article of the invention, either upon re-melting and re-solidifying. or before it is allowed to become initially solidified.

Various fire-retardants or combustion-retarding agents may be combinedwith the article of the invention before, during or after the manu- Such combustion-retarding 4 agents comprise borax, boric-acid,

' borates, and salts thereof, aluminum phosphate, ethyl ammonium phosphate, ammonium suliphate, metallic silicates, and the like, as set forth 'in'my aforementioned application, Serial No.

307,587. In the preferred embodiment aminoagent acts to retain the aroma for a much longer period of time than is ordinarily realized is not exactly known, but it is of importance to note that it is desirable to use a fire-retarding agent in combination with an aroma-producing agent in those cases where it is desired to lengthen and enhance the retention of the aroma to the article of the invention during burning.

Visible coloring agents such as paints, pigments, effect materials and the like may be combined with the article before, during or after the manufacture, as by spraying, coating, or painting.

Eifect materials such as flakes or bronze, gold and silver, artificial snow, tinsel, comminuted particles of Cellophane, and the like may be combined with the article by means of suitable agents having adherent properties, such as shellac, varnish, lacquers, and the like.

In forming the article of the invention, and as the preferred embodiment of the invention, dried natural flammable cellulosic material is initially impregnated with'suitable flame-coloring composition by immersing said cellulosic material in a concentrated solution of said flame-coloring composition for approximately 24 hours. The material thus impregnated is allowed to dry and then combined with a' composition comprising a dispersion of a substantial quantity of flamecoloring composition and a wax-like binding agent, as for example, by melting the dispersion and combining th dispersion with the said impregnated natural cellulosic material, as by pouring, immersing, or otherwise allowing the dis-' composition with the article of the invention, and

to provide additional means for distributing the flame-coloring composition, a dispersion of waxbinding agent and flame-coloring composition is melted and poured into a suitable mold. Before permitting the dispersion to solidify the impregnated cellulosic material is immersed therein and rigidly held in order to provide the article thus formed with a support,-such as a base .or pedestal, upon solidification of the dispersion. Such a base supports the natural cellulosic material in an erect. prone or other predeterminable position.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown in Fig. l a preferred embodiment of the article of the invention comprising a dried pine-cone Ill impregnated with a flame-coloring composition occasionally observed as outcropping' crystals or surface deposits H. A composition comprising paraflin wax l2 combined with flame-coloring composition 20 is melted and poured over the center and around the end of the cone and allowed to harden. Base l3 formed of a dispersion comprising parafiin wax i2 and flame-coloring composition 20 is molded and allowed to harden about the treated con: to maintain the cone. The article is finally decorated with a visible coloring material, as by painting the tips of the cone It. The cone may be combined with aromaproducing agents, flame-retardants, lacquers, and effect materials before or after being formed into the article illustrated.

In Fig. 2 there is illustrated in perspective a further embodiment of the article comprising a series of impregnated pine-cones held in erect position in a cardboard container I5 containing solidified wax-binding agent l2 combined with particles of flame-coloring composition 20. The cones are decorated with flakes of effect materials it to simulate snow. The cones may be used individually in the fireplace, or if desired the entire group. If individual cones are used they may be broken away from the group and placed in the fire, preferably together with a substantial portion of the wax base.

In Fig. 3 there is shown in perspective a further embodiment of the article of the invention comprising a natural log combined with flamecoloring composition and wax-like binding agent. In forming the article the log I! is initially dried,

cones 30 are placed in a non-fibrous transparent cellulose casing 3| and the ends of the casing 22 are fastened to the ends of the log ll to form the handle 2|. The article may be seasonably decorated with bows 24 and/or poinsettas 25. The log is then enclosed in the shrinkable non-fibrous cellulose casing 26 of diameter sufiicient to tightly encase the log upon shrinking. Berries 21 and leaves 28 are included within the casing as additional decorations for the gift package. The casing prevents the bark from being scuffed from the log during handling and transportation, and furthermore due to the transparency permits observation of the product. In using the gift, the package may be dismantled and the log as well as the .conesburned in an open fire, the fipwable wax-like composition distributing particles of flame-coloring agent to remote parts of the fire.

Thus, there is provided a novel and attractive article simple and inexpensive to manufacture, and which provides new and unusual color effects in the hearth and burning fireplace. During the burning of the article the wax-like binding agent melts and flows to various and remote recesses of the fire and even among the burning embers, while carrying with it the flame-coloring composition. The effect is that the article itself not only produces a delightful coloration upon buming, but also the entire fireplace becomes a fiaming color of unusual display. By thus being able to combine additional and larger quantities of flame-coloring compositions in the article of the invention there is produced a much longer display of color eifect than otherwise realized by merely impregnating the article alone. The article furthermore is unusually attractive and decorative when on sale, display or in the home. The occasional deposit of particlesof crystallized flame-coloring composition on the surface of the article contributes to its rusticated appearance.

then impregnated with a solution comprising flame-coloring composition dissolved in suitable solvent and which occasionally appears on the surface of the log as a crystal deposit i I when the log is dried. The treated log is then com bined with a dispersion comprising particles of flame-coloring composition 20 dispersed in waxlike binding agent [2. The dispersion may be combined with the treated log by melting the dispersion and pouring into end holes I 8, or other means may be employed for combining said disversion with the log. as for example by immersing the log in a quantity of melted dispersion and allowin it to solidify. or as by spraying or imnregnating the treated log with such dispersion. The log may thereafter be decorated with effect material ill to simulate moss. The bark 29 is finally sprayed with a lacquer or shellac (not shown).

In Fig. 4 there is illustrated, as a novel gift package, a further embodiment of the invention. The gift package comprises, in combination, a natural log treated in accordance with the invention and in particular according to the method described and illustrated in Fig. 3. together with a plurality of pine-cones combined with a waxbinding agent and flame-coloring composition arranged within a cellulose casing to form the novel carrying means for said package. The treated The erect pine-cone standing in its wax base support is unusually decorative, having the appearance of a small Christmas tree, especially when powdered or dusted with effect material to simulate fallen snow.

Since certain changes in carrying out the above process, and certain modifications in the article which embody the invention may be made without departing from its scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which. as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. As an article of manufacture, a pyrotechnic device comprising a natural flammable cellulosic material impregnated with a composition consisting of a solidified wax having dispersed therein a flame-coloring composition, the wax adapted to melt and flow and carry the flamecoloring composition to various parts of a buming fire.

2. A process for forming an article of manufacture adapted to be burned in an open fire, comprising impregnating a natural flammable cellulosic material with a dispersion comprising a flame-coloring composition dispersed in a normally solid wax-like binding agent.

3. A process for forming an article or manufacture adapted to be burned in an open fire, comprising impregnating a natural flammable cellulosic material with a flowable composition comprising a flame-coloring composition dispersed in a wax-like material, thereafter causing the waxlike material to solidify.

4. A process for forming an article adapted to be burned in an open lire, comprising impregnating a natural flammable cellulosic material with a composition comprising a flame-coloring composition, thereafter combining the impregnated material with a dispersion. comprising a flame-coloring composition'dispersed in a waxlike binding agent, thereafter causing the waxlike binding agent to solidify.

5. A process for forming an article of manufacture adapted to be-bumed in an open fire, comprising impregnating a natural flammable cellulosic material with an aroma-producing agent and a flame-coloring composition dispersed in a wax-like material, thereafter causing the waxlike material to solidify.

6. A process for forming an article of manufacture adapted to be burned in an open fire, comprising impregnating a natural flammable cellulosic material with a flowable composition comprising a flame-coloring composition dispersed in a wax-like material, impregnating said cellulosic material with a combustion-retarding agent, thereafter applying to said article a visible coloring agent, and causing said wax-like material to solidify.

i HERBERT PALMER STARNER. 

